Thunderbolts*: Marvel Takes on Mental Health

So full. So filled. 

Thunderbolts is a fun blockbuster thrill ride. Beautifully shot (on the new Alexa 265!), brilliantly cast and acted, giving us a story that is engaging and moving. This is my favorite marvel film I’ve seen. This film touches on something that goes back to the original comics of fantastic four. It’s not the powers or the costumes that make it work, it’s relatable characters and sharp sense of drama. 

The theme of mental health comes up a lot in this film. The Marvel character Sentry “Bob” is a brilliant metaphor for mental health struggles, particularly the tension between external strength and internal chaos. As the Sentry, he possesses unimaginable power—“the power of a million exploding suns”—and is meant to be a force for good. However, within him also exists the Void, a dark alter ego that embodies his fear, anxiety, depression, and self-hatred. The tragic twist is that the more heroic Sentry becomes, the stronger the Void gets—symbolizing how inner demons can grow even in moments of external success. 

It’s a story not just of action but of characters wrestling with isolation, identity, and redemption. Sentry’s inclusion in the film allows Marvel to explore mental health through a superpowered lens, showing how even the mightiest individuals can struggle with invisible battles.

And what brings people out of the void? Yelena’s arc gives us that answer. In the beginning she’s talking about having no purpose while standing on the edge standing on the edge of a building and falling off (like a suicide). 

But then later finding her purpose to be a hero standing on the edge of the shadowy void, falling into the void.

To then hugging Bob with the group and falling out of the void back into a new bright world. Beautiful visual storytelling to begin and wrap up her arch in the movie. 

What’s the statement it all makes? In the end it takes a community, family, friends, to pull us out of the shadowy void and rescue us from the darkest rooms in our minds. Then we can be both full and filled.